Your personal finance depends on your natural tendencies
Keep those tendencies in check
Just like many other people who are not in the finance industry, I started learning about personal finance by reading. I read books, blogs, and news articles. I also learned a great deal from trial and error. Self-made mistakes sear lessons in my mind more permanently than lessons I passively consume.
I learned that it is not wise to merely imitate what we read.
Personal finance is just that: personal. A finance strategy that works splendidly for one person might be a horrible idea for the next. Applying cookie-cutter suggestions without understanding ourselves first is a recipe for disaster.
Our natural tendencies play a major role in influencing our personal finance decisions. When looking at tendencies, it is easy to fall into the trap of black and white labeling. For example, we say that we either risk-tolerant or risk-averse. But the truth is, tendencies are fluid spectrums and we are somewhere between two extremes.
When we understand our tendencies, we can either play them up or dial them down, depending on what the…
